No. 10 Houston Leads La Salle 43-23 at Halftime of the Season Opener at Fertitta Center
The Cougars' season is twenty minutes old and already looks like a Kelvin Sampson opener: Houston held La Salle to 23 points in the first half and leads by 20 at the break, in the programs' first meeting since 1975.
HOUSTON - The No. 10 Houston Cougars opened their 2026-27 season the way their coach draws it up: with defense. Houston leads La Salle 43-23 at halftime at Fertitta Center on Monday night, holding the Explorers to 23 points across the entire first half of the season opener for both teams.
The first basket of the season came fast. Dedan Thomas Jr. knocked down a three-pointer off a Chase McCarty pass with 19:06 on the clock, and Houston's early run had a little of everything in it: Delrecco Gillespie threw down a dunk off a Thomas feed and added the free throw, and after Anthony Finkley's three off a Noah Collier assist got La Salle on the board, Joseph Tugler answered on the offensive glass with a putback that made it 8-3. The margin only grew from there to the 20-point halftime gap.
The meeting itself is the rarity: the programs had not played since December 30, 1975, when Houston won 90-87 in Las Vegas - La Salle's only previous game against the Cougars. Kelvin Sampson, in his 13th season at Houston, brought a team that went 30-7 last season into the opener; Darris Nichols, in his second season at La Salle, brought one that went 9-23. The first half played to those lines.
Twenty minutes remain at Fertitta Center. The final file follows on this station when the game ends; for now, the opener's story is a 20-point lead built on a 23-point defensive half.
